Monday, October 29, 2007

Apparently some retired officers don't like fighting wars. Here are two quotes I picked up from the Navy Clips newsletter:

From General Barry McCaffrey (ret)-

"The Air Force's failure to secure more procurement dollars is largely due to the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan are consuming much of the nation's attention and defense budget."The bottom line is ... the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suck up the oxygen in the debate about what we really want the Air Force and the Navy to do," he said. And, "If you're spending $12 billion a month [for the wars] ... then you don't have the money to get [more]."

And Democrat Senator and former Marine James Webb concerning the Navy-"

"One of the problems you have cyclically throughout history is when you get involved in situations with long-term ground operations, is you tend to eat up your budget and tend to lose focus on your strategic responsibilities."

So, if it wasn't for those darn wars, which militaries are created to fight, the Navy and Air Force could order all the cool new toys they want and play soldier? This, to me shows a lack of strategic vision, when you have a real threat to our country thats already attacked the homeland once, Al Qaeda terrorism, and will likely do so again if given the chance. Were we to return to a Cold War mindset and ignore the instability of the Third World, as these two gentlemen seem to suggest, then we would surely have repeat 9/11s, perhaps this time using nuclear weapons from Iran.

My advice: Give the funds to the Army who have kept this country safe from attack for the last 6 years, and are living in reality rather than the past.